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Ryan International School, Goregaon
English Class 10
Daffodils
“I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” or “The Daffodils” was composed by Wordsworth in 1804,
and published in 1807 in the series Moods of My Own Mind. Itis one of the finest and most
popular poems of Wordsworth, The very starting line of the poem “I wandered lonely as a
cloud” informs the poet’s profound sentiments of being left alone. It was actually the death of
his brother John that led him to “loneliness.” The poem was thus not a result of imagination,
but that of actual visualization.
The occasion of the poem was the poet’s visit with his sister Dorothy to Gowbarrow Park,
Ullswater in Lake District in a stormy day, where he saw a broad belt of full-grown daffodils
growing on the wooded shore of an island lake. The sight of the flowers was very charming
and appealing to the poet.
Analysis
“The Daffodils’ is a great Nature poem. It may be regarded as a representative poem of
Wordsworth as a poet of Nature. Wordsworth strongly believes that Nature is full of joy and
has a life of her own. The sight of a very large number of golden daffodils looks very
charming to the poet. It appears to him that the flowers are very happy and enjoying the
pleasant atmosphere.
The poet is so much thrilled and excited that he looks fixedly at the flowers to enjoy their
beauty to the full. The great beauty of the poem is its wonderful buoyaney. The poet
expresses his delight with great passion, He makes use of beautiful and appropriate similes to
make the whole picture very appealing and colourful
The daffodils, shining and stretching to the farthest area where the eye can survey, are
compared to the innumerable stars that shine and twinkle on the Milky Way. Nature is full of
Joy, and so is the heart of the poet. The whole picture is described very vividly and with great
passion,
The concluding stanza of the poem is a fine illustration of Wordsworth’s theory that “poetry
is emotions recollected in tranquillity.” The poem was not written at that very moment when
the poet actually saw the daffodils, but at a later date when he recalled the whole picture in
his mind. Wordsworth believes that recollected emotions can be as vivid, joyful, and thrilling
as the actual observation of a beautiful scene of Nature at any one particular time. The
experience is not lost, but may be revived whenever it is wanted.
The beauty of the daffodils is a permanent source of pleasure to the poet. Whenever he is
lonely, unoccupied or thoughtful, the recollection of the daffodils in his mind makes him
happy once again, and his heart begins to dance with the dancing daffodils Major Theme:
The major theme of the poem is Nature’s beauty is the ultimate source of human happiness.
The poem describes the healing and refreshing power of Nature. The impressions of the
beauty of Nature was so strong that even after many years their memory was more than
enough to lighten the poet’s mood even at the darkest passage of his life which is the “bliss of
solitude’
Literary Devices
Simi
‘I wandered lonely as a cloud.” He compares his loneliness with a single cloud.
“Continues as the stars that shine.” Here Wordsworth compares the endless row of daffodils
with countless stars,
Personification: “When all at once I saw a crowd." The crowd shows the number of
daffodils.
“Tossing their heads and sprightly dance.” It shows that the Daffodils are humans that can
dance.
‘In a jocund company.” Here he considered the daffodils as his buoyant company.
Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same lines
“What wealth the show t0 me had brought.” (repetition of ‘w" sound)
“ and dances like daffodils” (repetition of ‘d° sound)
“Beside the lake, beneath the trees”, (repetition of “b’ sound)
high o'er vales and hills (repetition of “h’ sound, repetition of ‘v’ sound ).
Then ail at once (the “w" and ‘o” have the same consonant sound.)
Hyperbole or Exaggeration: ‘golden daffodils’, “When all at once Isaw a crowd”
‘Ten thousand saw Lat a glance”, “They stretched in never-ending line”
Metaphor: “They lash upon that imvard eye.” (Where inward eye suggests the mental
vision or memory of daffodils)
Onamatopoela: Beside the lake, beneath the trees Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Imagery: The poem is replete with visual imagery such as “/onely as a cloud”, “golden
daffodils”, “ a crowd”, “never-ending line”, "milky way” and “jocund company
Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows the ABABCC rhyme scheme ending with rhyming
couplet,
